MONDAY MIXTAPE: 03
Cure your Monday blues with a new playlist by Meredith Coons of Lamb’s Ear.
“Forgotten Eyes “ - Big Theif
Honestly, I could populate this entire playlist with Big Thief's music and feel completely fine about it. Adrianne Lenker's skills as a writer and the band's gift for finding the perfect arrangement for each song serve up a formidable feast for the ears - I'm always eager to gorge myself.
"Kindness Be Conceived" - Thao & The Get Down Stay Down (featuring Joanna Newsom)
I love almost any song with two part harmony that just won't quit, and this unlikely blend of vocal styles is one of my favorite examples (sung by two of my favorite artists). This song comes from Thao Nguyen's album "We The Common," which was shaped by her experiences volunteering with California Coalition for Women Prisoners. I recommend the whole thing.
"Growing Pain" - Yoko Ono
The first book I read this year was Yoko Ono's "Grapefruit." It was a delightful look inside her mind - the playfulness, the intelligence, the radical hopefulness. Her talents as a songwriter really shine through on this song. "I'm a sphinx, stamped on the Hilton poster / Hoping to see the desert," she sings. I know what it's like to be that sphinx.
"Hold Me Anyway" - Wilco
Mary MacLane and I were going track by track through Wilco's Ode to Joy for our podcast "Wilco Will Love You," and this song stood out as the most joyful of the bunch (with a touch of melancholy, of course, because it's Wilco).
5. “Mother" - Vashti Bunyan
As a child of a mother and a mother myself, this song destroys me. Also, did you know that Vashti Bunyan doesn't actually play piano? She constructed the part for this song by picking out little melodies and layering them over each other. Fooled me.
6. School of Design" - Tiny Ruins
I'm captivated by the spooky, slinky quality of this song. The moment that thrills me each time is when that xylophone/marimba/glockenspiel slithers in (I say slithers because I visualize its melody as a snake. Try it! Envision musical elements as animals and have yourself some "Peter And The Wolf" style fun).
7. "Ostrich" - Y La Bamba
Y La Bamba songwriter Luz Elena Mendoza has a true gift for melody, which fully presents itself here. I love where it takes me.
8. "Oom Sha La La" - Haley Heynderickx
Haley Heynderickx album "I Need To Start A Garden" played consistently in my home and car for months following its release. I still find my kids singing this one to themselves now and then.
9. "Make Me Feel" - Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe can do so many wonderful things: she acts, she sings, she raps, she writes, she plays guitar. She revealed on "Song Exploder" that she engineers herself when recording her parts. Janelle Monáe is a force - so is this song.
10. "Never Be Mine" - Angel Olsen
It's fun to think that this originated as something slow and pensive, then shapeshifted into its 60s girl group glory (I learned this from "Song Exploder," too - I listen to lots of "Song Exploder"). The pain of unrequited love is still there, despite the upbeat tempo, made palpable by Angel Olsen's voice.